Liberated from the dusty Beeb archives, the 61 songs here represent an alternative précis of Thompson’s lengthy career – not in any radical sense, but with a few optional views of his stature as one of the nation’s finest singer-songwriters. It begins in 1974, Richard and wife Linda in fine form on I Want To See The Bright Lights and Hokey Pokey at the invitation of John Peel, though the bulk of material dates from the following decade.
The box set shows many of Thompson’s songs in a better light than on their original recorded versions. A school of thought persists that the mid-80s albums for Polydor in particular, Across A Crowded Room and Daring Adventures, suffered from clinical over-productions, but several tracks are salvaged here (Valerie, When The Spell Is Broken) in solo acoustic form for Andy Kershaw’s late night show.
Beyond the variations on songs already in fans’ collections, a handful of previously unheard numbers feature, most delightfully the rocking paean to impressionable youth Kidzz and the moody and prescient warning to self-serving politicians Time’s Gonna Break You, the latter from as recently as 2009. The whole is a welcome historical artefact, but it’s also a reminder that Thompson’s still on fire, burning as bright as ever.
